Dr M – so simple and frank, he’s misunderstood

March 16 – Love him or hate him, Dr Mahathir Mohamad is a very misunderstood man.
This is his second son’s view of the man who was Malaysia’s prime minister from 1981 to 2003.
Explaining the people’s love or loathig for his father, Datuk Mokhzani Mahathir, 48, said it was due to his frank, and sometimes, sharp comments.
But they were often made in jest and taken the wrong way, he told The New Paper on the sidelines of a road show at Ngee Ann City last Friday to promote the 2009 Malaysian Grand Prix.
The chairman of Sepang International Circuit cited an example of how Dr Mahathir was stingy in his praise for his children.
“He’s an old-school disciplinarian,” Mokhzani said. “He would never praise even his own children directly.”
“So, sometimes when he makes off-the-cuff remarks about me in public, he will joke about it... but people don’t know whether he’s serious or not. I’d know, but everyone takes him so seriously,” said Mokhzani.
He recalled a dinner function after the Umno general assembly elections some eight years ago, where he was seated with his father at the same table.
Said Mokhzani, then an Umno member in a Kedah constituency: “My division chief came up to him and said, ‘You know, we’re trying to bring Mokhzani up in the division, so that one day he will be able to contest for posts’.
“The division chief was trying to show that he is my mentor, but my father turned around and said, ‘Actually, in my family, I’m the only one who’s got brains, so I don’t know why you’re bothering with Mokhzani’.”
“As my father said that, he had a smirk on his face, so I knew he was being sarcastic and witty.
“But the guy who was talking to him didn’t know how to react.
“Here I was thinking, ‘Oh dear, there goes my political career’.”
So when does he know if his father is proud of him? It’s usually indirectly, like the time he found out from a friend that his father was proud of his car race championship.
But Mokhzani insisted that what you see of his father in the public sphere is what you get.
He said: “He’s frank and simple in the way he expresses himself. His simplicity and economic use of the language makes him very misunderstood.”
He admits that growing up as a political son can be “difficult”, as Dr Mahathir was strict about not letting his children enter politics.
Mokhzani, who was Umno Youth treasurer, said his father was not keen on him going further because he “doesn’t want anyone to say that anything I get or whatever I do was because of him”.
It was only in the general elections last year that his younger brother Mukhriz stood and won.
Mokhzani said: “Before that, my father would strike us off the list every time our names came up, even though I was involved in the grassroots support and constituency.
“I was in the constituency since 1986 ... and knew it inside out, but my father said ‘no’.”
Yet, he had no qualms sacrificing his political career to support his father last May.
Sparked by his father’s resignation, Mokhzani also quit in protest against the Abdullah Badawi administration.
Their resignations came a few months after Barisan Nasional (BN) lost its two-thirds ruling majority in the last general election.
Mokhzani had said then that Umno delegates had to be shaken up as the party was in “dire straits”.
His stand has not changed.
Recently, a survey by the Merdeka Centre for Opinion Research found that Malaysians viewed Umno as corrupt and out of touch with the ground. That, he said, has vindicated his protest resignation last year.
He said: “Nobody believes what Umno is doing today is true to its agenda and politics as when it started out.
“It’s not just (money politics) ... the Umno candidates and machineries were completely out of touch with the general public.”
And it was this disillusionment, coupled with support for his brother, that prompted him to leave Umno.
He said: “I spoke to my brother (Mukhriz), he is an MP, won a seat in Jerlun constituency, and as a party man with the backing of Umno and BN, he gets the responsibility to serve his constituency.”
He told his brother that two sons of Dr Mahathir cannot serve political posts at once as there would be backlash.
He said: “I advised him that he should stay ... I told him to be patient, stick to his principles, and he has youth on his side.”
Despite being disillusioned, Mokhzani said he hasn’t given up on Umno.
He looks to incoming Prime Minister Najib Razak as holding the key to reviving the party.
He said: “The delegates in the upcoming Umno general assembly have to realise that it’s not only about Umno, it’s about Umno, BN and the public.
“(Najib) has to be given a clean slate, and the emphasis is on the word ‘clean’,” he said.
He believes that Umno can reform and that Najib has the ability to “shake things up”.
And Mokhzani declared he would return to politics.
So what will be the tipping point?
He said: “That will be when Najib comes up with a plan that people believe in.
“Changing Umno will be difficult but if he can shake things up... and not just say ‘I’m going to do this’, and be vague about how it’s going to be implemented – which was unfortunately what it was in the past – I think the support will come back.
“It’s all about leadership. People say ‘fish rots from the head’.” – The New Paper

tunku : that is Tun Mahathir, he hit without fear and favour.no matter who, even his children he hit out at them.it is sad that many still don't know him well. about umno future, again it's all about najib now.how he handle and maneuver umno.if he lost his direction umno and bn will lose it power.it's all about his leadership now.